


Skyrim: Wayward Bound

by Lunafan1k



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Pathfinder (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-06-09 13:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19476871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunafan1k/pseuds/Lunafan1k
Summary: Choyu Kruell, a Tabaxi monk finds herself in the beautiful and dangerous land of Skyrim. The last thing she could remember was assisting her party with a ritual, and now she's in a new land filled with newly revived dragons searching for her companions and looking for a way back home.





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! Thanks for giving my story a read, it's been a while and I look forward to any feedback. As a note, while this does take place in Skyrim from the "main character" point of view, I'll start with saying that no, Choyu is not the Dragonborn, will not be getting everything handed to her, and will go her own way and form connections based on the roleplay used when I played her in Pathfinder. While some events and dialogue are present from Skyrim, they are more of a reference and would have no real impact on the story. With that, enjoy!

The cart rattled, bouncing along down a cobblestone path. Choyu’s head bumped a bit harder against the wooden railing, jolting her awake. She winced, blinking her eyes as they adjusted in the afternoon sunlight. Lush green trees and bushes slowly rolled past, her eyes soon focusing on one of the other occupants of the cart. He looked back to her and smiled, “Ah, Khajiit, you’re finally awake!”

Her eyes widened as she looked around in a bit of a panic, quickly noticing her hands were bound and lashed to the cart’s railing. She was with three other strangers, humans of rough yet fair skin. The one in front of her was wearing a blue leather hide over a chain mail shirt and was addressing her, “Must have been caught up in the Imperial ambush at the border, same as us and this thief here.” He motioned towards his left, this one was wearing what looked like the cheapest, ragged clothing he could cobble together while the occupant to her right was dressed in a fancier blue armor and gagged. The ones leading the horse and carriages wore more red or brown leather over chainmail. She took a moment to look herself over as well, her hands were bound in simple leather straps while she wore nothing but what looked like bags of some kind, itching against her black fur.

“What? Ambush? But I was...” Choyu trailed off as she tried to remember what she could before she woke up, “No... I was at a temple, we were in the middle of a ritual... Hey you, did you see what happened to me at the ambush?” She asked the man.

“Hm... Sorry lass, they already had you tied up waiting to go, thought you were dead you’ve been under for so long. The name’s Ralof, from a small village not too far from here called Riverwood. How about you horse thief?” The man said then turned to his left.

The other rugged man shook his head, “Lokir, of Rorikstead.” he muttered.

“Pretty far from home aren’t you?” Ralof said as he leaned back on the bench. “How about you, Khajiit?”

She shook her head, “Khajiit? I’ve never heard of that term, My kind are referred to as Tabaxi.”

He grunted, “Hm, I've not heard of that breed before, you must be incredibly far from home.”

Choyu nodded, “I feel that’s a rather accurate assessment. I am Choyu, from the Temple of the Bell in the land of Garund.”

The other occupants all gave her a confused look, “I say, I don’t think any one of us has heard of this temple or land. It’s a shame to be lost so far from home.” Ralof said softly.

She nodded, “Thank you, but I was an ocean away from home before finding myself here. I have an idea on what might have happened but I would need to find my companions, I have a sneaking suspicion that one in particular is responsible for this predicament.”

He nodded, “Well normally I would hope you find a way to get back to your home, but I don’t think that’s about to happen.”

“Open the gate!” Someone at the front of the line of carriages called out. There was a grinding sound as a gate rose into the stone walls just before they entered a town. It had a large guard tower in the center across from a stone watchtower, several houses and shops lined the main road. The carriages were pulling into a small courtyard between the two towers.

“Helgen... I used to be sweet on a girl here, made the best sweet rolls for miles around.” Ralof said, his voice full of nostalgia. Her stomach churned, this situation didn’t feel right.

Lokir spoke up, sensing it too, “What’s going on, why are we stopping?”

Ralof sighed, “Why else? End of the line. Hold your head high and face death with honor, horse thief.”

“No... No! I don’t want to die! I don’t deserve this! I'm not part of the rebellion!” he started to panic, tugging at his bonds as he was pulled from the cart.

Choyu took a breath to calm herself as they were all lined up, her mind racing as the prisoners were being accounted for. She could use her Ki to break through the bonds, they looked and felt like simple leather, but the courtyard was full of soldiers with sturdy armor and weapons. Atop the towers and the walls archers could be seen watching them. If she could flee into one of the towers they would be forced to follow into the confined space, their own numbers and gear would hinder them in such a confined space and allow her to strike them down if she needed to. The roof would be a good way to escape, leaping off the watchtower onto a roof and sprinting at full speed would give her an advantage until she could make it to the woods, the only issue then would be to bob and weave to avoid the archers.

Plan in place, she stepped off the cart and approached an officer with a list. “And who are you?” He asked.

She stood proudly, “I am Choyu Kruell, Monk of the Temple of the Bell in the land of Garund.”

He gave her an odd look, “You are not from Elsweyr?”

“Elsewhere?” She asked back, “No... I have not heard of this Elsewhere.”

He shook his head in bewilderment, “Captain! She’s not on the list, I think-”

“She goes to the block with the rest of the prisoners.” The female captain commanded, her tone leaving no room for argument. Choyu’s ears folded back and she bared her teeth at the injustice, she was about to tell her off for condemning an innocent to death without any just cause when she was shoved aside.

She looked up to see Lokir trying to flee, but he chose to run down the middle of the road in his panic. She shook her head in pity as a single archer shot him from behind, piercing his heart. He fell to the ground, lifeless. Unfortunately during the commotion she had wound up closer to the chopping block as more guards showed up to surround them. She doubted she would be able to push her way through their ranks like this.

“Ulfric Stormcloak,” Someone said, she turned back to the left as a much more decorated officer spoke to the gagged man who had sat next to her on the cart, “Some here in Helgen call you a hero, but a hero doesn’t use a power like the Voice to murder his King and usurp his throne. You started this war, and plunged Skyrim into chaos!” the officer yelled, spittle flying out and splattering Ulfrik’s face. For his part he didn’t seem to react, settling instead to glare at the officer.

Choyu narrowed her eyes and focused on the man, “Ulfrik...” she muttered, dedicating his name and face to memory, anger bubbling below the surface as the one who may have inadvertently sentenced her to death. Meanwhile, the other junior officer was speaking to his captain, a glance sent her way at least indicating that they were talking about her. She could only hope they realize their mistake and let her go.

Once the officer was finished yelling at Ulfrik someone else stepped forward into the courtyard, the robes indicating her as a priest. She raised her arms in prayer, “As we pass these souls into-”

“For the love of Talos, shut up and let’s get this over with!” Someone interrupted, it was another prisoner dressed in the same blue leather and chainmail armor as most of the others. He strode forward and placed his head on the block. “Come on, I haven’t got all morning.”

The captain turned to her superior, the officer who spat on Ulfrik, and he nodded. She motioned for the Headsman to begin. “My ancestors are smiling at me Imperials, can you say the same?” He taunted, having the last laugh as the ax fell upon him. His head rolled forward, depositing into a basket. The captain rolled his body aside, blood spurting occasionally from the stump of his neck as it was collected and moved away.

“Ulfrik, Your people will watch as you face justice.” She said, calling him forward. The man walked with his head held high and stood proudly before the block. Just then the air rumbled. Everyone looked around, “What was that?” someone asked.

“Ignore it. On your knees.” She commanded. Ulfrik obliged and knelt down, the captain assisted with the rest by pressing him against the block with her foot. 

The air rumbled once more, “There it is again...” another muttered. Choyu watched as the headsman raised his ax, but was distracted by a shadow overhead. She looked up in time to see a massive dragon land on the guard tower. Her mouth dropped in panic and horror as it stared at her.

“Dragon!” Someone screamed. Panic ensued as it let out a sonic blast of some kind, setting the very sky on fire! Fiery blasts rained into the crowd, dozens died in an instant as Choyu was knocked to the ground. She covered her head as more blasts could be heard, screams and panic erupted all around her as people fled, several stomping on or tripping over her.

A moment later a hand grabbed onto her shoulder, pulling her up, “Come on Choyu, we need to get out of here!” 

The world slowly returned to focus and she looked around, the dragon could be seen terrorizing another section of the town being chased by the soldiers in the red and gold armor. The soldiers in the blue, however, fled into the watchtower she had planned on escaping through initially. The one helping her was the young officer from before who had the list. In her dazed state she idly wondered where it went. 

“Come on! Stay close to me!” he called over the chaos. He led her down a road, buildings burned on either side as guards rushed forward. Arrows were sent into the sky along with several spells of fire, ice and lightning, but the dragon shrugged it all off as it plucked several guards from the terrace. It pulled them far into the air and simply released them, letting gravity take care of the rest. Their bodies vanished from view as they crashed through a house.

“Hammett!” her escort suddenly yelled, “You need to get over here now!” There was a young child, standing in the middle of the road looking around like he was lost. Her eyes widened in shock, they both rushed forward to move him to safety, but a shadow washed over them.

The ground shook as the beast landed before them. The officer rushed towards the boy, grabbing him and trying to flee to safety as the dragon inhaled deeply. Choyu rushed forward as well, but with a different idea. She channeled a bit of her Ki, snapping her bonds as she rushed the dragon. Right as it was about to release the breath she struck its throat with a flurry of blows.

Each strike felt like she was punching adamantium, she doubted her blows were reaching beyond the scales to cause any real damage, but she made it grunt and halt the fire blast long enough for the officer to get Hammett to safety. She ducked under its head as it breathed out its fire into the empty street and fled behind a destroyed wall.

As soon as the dragon stopped its assault a hail of arrows bounced off its scales and it took to the skies once again. “Choyu!” she heard the officer call from where he passed the child to his parents, “By the gods, are you alright there?” He asked as he ran up to her, “I’ve never seen anyone do anything like that, you said you were a monk?”

Choyu nodded, “Yes but now is not the time, we must flee this place. Your men can’t seem to damage it in any way and its scales are unnaturally hard.” She said as she massaged her bleeding hands.

He winced at the cuts, “Here, use these wraps.” He said as he passed her some bandages, “That should do until we can get you to a healer. I think General Tullius ordered the retreat, I’ll get us out of here. With all these Stormcloaks on the loose now fleeing to safety might get us captured by them instead.”

Choyu nodded as she wrapped up her hands, “I’d rather not be a prisoner or face the block again if I can help it. I hope you know a safer way out?” 

He nodded, “I do, there’s a tunnel that leads through the barracks to an old cave system. I’m honestly, truly sorry you got roped into this, but on my life I will get you out of here and clear your name. Mine is Hadvar, by the way.”

She shook his hand lightly, “A pleasure. Now, let’s run for our lives.”

He chuckled as he turned and led the way through a collapsed house and through a hole in the rampart walls. The dragon passed overhead a few times hunting down seemingly random targets. They stuck to the cover of the wall and the shadows when they could and made it to the large door of a massive stone building that had been minimally damaged so far. Choyu opened the door and rushed inside the barracks, Hadvar taking a moment longer.

“Damn!” he cursed, “Looks like Ralof had the same idea, I just saw him lead a bunch of the Stormcloaks through the other entrance, I just hope they can be reasoned with.” He rushed towards the trunks and the racks, “Place looks sacked, they might have missed some weapons and armor, take a look around.”

Choyu nodded, she didn’t need a weapon or armor but searched through whatever had not been looted. While the place held beds and trunks for the most part there were a few weapon racks with the occasional sword or hand ax, one bed had a leather cap on the pillow but she left it lie and flipped through a book, quickly setting it aside when she wasn’t able to read the language. “I thought this would be a secret tunnel.” She commented as he gathered up a few leftover arrows and a bow.

“It is, or was I suppose, but both Ralof and I are from Riverwood and we both know the area pretty well.” He sighed as he turned to look at her, “What, not even a bit of armor?”

She smiled, “I have trained my entire life to hone my body and mind. My body can be compared to that of steel thanks to iron body training and Ki mastery. Armor is nothing more than a bulky hindrance to me, a bit too much of a distraction really.” She looked down at the rugged makeshift clothing she was wearing, “Though I could do with decent clothes, if I didn’t know any better these are potato sacks with holes in them.”

Hadvar laughed, “That’s because they are! They say potato on your back and bottom!” She frowned and pulled it around, sure enough she was wearing potato sacks.

“This is insulting, I would rather wear nothing than degrade myself this way.” She huffed in irritation.

“Well it’s too cold to be doing that, even with all that fur and not to mention it’s indecent, but with luck we’ll get to Riverwood in no time and my Uncle can help you out. He’s the blacksmith and his wife is a tailor.”

She nodded, “Alright then, let’s get through this cave of yours.”

“Right. This way.” Hadvar said as he led her to the far end of the room, the doorway was closed with an iron portcullis. He pulled a chain on the wall and activated the mechanism. The gate slowly rose into the ceiling.

“... That’s by far the most pointless mechanism I’ve ever seen.” She commented. “You have doors, use them in doorways. This is just… absurd.”

Hadvar frowned, “Well it’s to keep enemies at bay.” he explained, the portcullis was only halfway lifted at this point.

“You mean other people who could just as easily pull the other chain on the other side? That one right there?” She asked as she pointed to said chain.

“Well, undead wouldn’t be able to figure that out.” He said defensively. 

“There are doors with locks on them. Some even have handles you need to twist to open, I think I saw one of those someplace… oh right, the other door over there.” She snarked and pointed back towards the entrance.

“You know, we could die at any moment and instead you complain about strategically placed portcullises. You’re not being very productive to the situation.” He pointed out.

“While that’s true I wasn’t the one sentencing an innocent to death for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” The gate finished rising to the ceiling with a clang. “And that’s not subtle at all.”

“No, it’s not. I was just authorized to move you away from the block or save you to last, that way they wouldn't riot thinking we were freeing prisoners before we were so rudely interrupted.” He explained.

“Well, you have my thanks for trying to set things right and helping me out, regardless of ridiculous portcullis placement.”

He shook his head and smiled, “Come on, let’s get going.” They headed through a short hall and around a corner until they encountered another portcullis on the other end. “Right, yep, I think I see your point.” He said as he pulled the chain. They stood there and watched it rise in silence.

“Remember that comment that we could die at any moment? Like the dragon could land and collapse the ceiling on us and all that?” He grunted, “Imagine if you had doors instead. We could have been through like ten doors by now.”

He sighed, “I’ll see if I can get General Tullius to sign off on remodeling our bases, if we make it out of this alive.”

She chuckled, “Then I’ll work hard to make sure you do.” 

The gate finally finished opening with another thud. “What was that?” they heard someone further past ask.

“Stormcloaks… Let me see if I can reason with them.” Hadvar said. He raised his hands palms out in order to not be perceived as a threat. Choyu followed behind. There were two of them, a man and a woman, and they had armed themselves and were in the middle of looting the room while a third man lay dead halfway under a table.

“Quite a day, eh?” Hadvar greeted them.

“FOR SKYRIM!” The lady yelled as she charged forward, her greatsword raised above her head. Choyu calmly stepped forward and laid her out with a ringing blow to her helmet. Another step to get within range and she delivered a shattering blow to the other man’s chest plate, partially collapsing it as he too went down.

“Well, she’s still alive I think.” Choyu said as she looked the lady over. The helm had a sizable dent and blood was starting to pool on the floor. “Uh, maybe. Should we get them help?”

Hadvar shook his head, “They are rebels sentenced to death for betraying their homeland and conspiring with Ulfrik, who killed the king and started this whole mess. They believe that Skyrim belongs only to the Nords.”

She frowned, “I can understand most of that but I’m still not comfortable with the idea. I’d rather see them to justice than be the executioner, but I will do what I must in order to protect myself.”

“I’m not asking you to become a killer, but we shouldn’t be too caught up in our morals when we need to get the hell out of here, and they seemed to attack on sight, so we do what we must.” Hadvar said as he pulled out a key to unlock a gate on the other end of the room.

“I’m perfectly capable of aggressive negotiations, and wow look at that, it’s a door! Sure it’s all bars and was locked but it’s an improvement.” She commented as they turned left and headed down a wide staircase.

“You’re never going to let up on that, are you?” Hadvar asked as they reached the bottom and followed the way to the right.

“Not for a while yet, no.” The entire building rumbled, the dragon was felt more than heard as it landed on the ceiling. Hadvar reached out and pulled her back by the potato sack as the ceiling cracked and collapsed right in front of them.

“Imagine if we had gotten through there sooner, we could have been caught in that!” He said breathlessly from the moment of panic.

“I still think we would have been far enough along to not have to worry about it. Nice save by the way.” She stood and the sack slid down her left arm a bit. “I think it was torn, should be fine though.”

“Well it happens, I’m not worried. This is the common room here, we should be able to get through to the other side of this rubble.” He explained as he moved to open the door, rolling his eyes as Choyu gestured to the door with an expectant look. “Yeah yeah, keep your sacks on.” 

They shared a chuckle as they headed inside. There was a large table and fireplace to their left, a stone pillar to the right, while ahead was another table and shelves half emptied, but beyond that were two more Stormcloaks looking through a few storage barrels.

“Here, let me try to talk to them, you stay out of sight.” Choyu said as she ushered him behind the stone pillar. She casually stepped out and walked up to the men, “Hello, can you help me?”

They looked up at her, and while they didn’t attack immediately they proved themselves as scum nonetheless. “Whoa! Look at that one, very pristine fur, it’s shining!”

“Very, it’ll make a fine rug for sure!” The other said as it drew a battleaxe.

“A rug?! Is that the best you can think of? I’ll make a coat, the finest around!” The first replied as he drew a maul.

Her brow furrowed in anger, Choyu stepped in and quickly dispatched them in another flurry of blows that rendered armor and bone alike. “Trash.” She spat.

“So, you think you actually need me to protect you?” Hadvar said from behind her, his sword was drawn but not needed. He sheathed it as he looked over the bodies, “If I didn’t see it with my own eyes I’d say they were beaten to death with a hammer.”

Choyu scoffed, “I told you I had trained and become a master of the iron fist and hard body styles. I know a few Ki attacks as well but these small fry are not worth the energy expense. But I’m more concerned about what they said, do they really believe they could kill me and use my skin like that?”

Hadvar sighed as he moved on to look through the food stores, “Unfortunately yes. Not all of them are like that, Ralof doesn’t think that way that I know of, but the Stormcloaks hate just about every race that isn’t a Nord, and more so against Khajiit and Argonians. Here, I found a health potion.” He handed her a small red vial.

“Thanks, I’ll hold onto it for now, I don’t think I need it just yet.” She paused, not having a pocket or anything to store it in. She went to one of the bodies and looted a small belt and bag from him and looped it around her own waist. “That should do for now.”

“Great, if you’re ready let’s keep moving.” She nodded and they continued out the back, the collapsed ceiling now behind them. The continued to descend deeper, the clash of steel rang up from further below. “Gods, I wish we didn’t need these.”

Choyu didn’t need to ask for clarification as they reached the bottom of the stairs and it opened into what was clearly a torture room. There were three Stormcloaks fighting in a dense melee with two other red soldiers, Hadvar soon joining them to make three on three.

“You know, this is damaging your reputation as the good guys.” She called out over the chaos as she watched them fight.

“Again, we can discuss morals and all that later, care to lend a hand?!” Hadvar called out in response. Choyu sighed and tripped one of the Stormcloaks from behind with a leg sweep. He was finished off by another guard a moment later, and then they overwhelmed the remaining Stormcloaks.

“Thank you for your assistance. They didn’t seem to take too kindly to how I was playing with my toys.” Choyu looked over to another man, this one was rather thin and gangly with his clothes splattered in old blood. “Though I had everything under control.”

Hadvar signed, “I’m starting to think I should have let them kill you.”

“Sarcasm does not befit you.” The man replied.

The other man, much larger and younger, stepped forward, “What the blazes is going on out there?”

“A dragon is attacking Helgen, General Tullius has ordered a full retreat, the city is lost.” Hadvar explained. He moved away from the group and started to rummage around the other end of the room, looking through some shelves.

“A dragon?” The thin man scoffed, “Do you take me for a fool?”

Hadvar found what he was looking for and tossed it to Choyu. She caught it with ease, it turned out to be a large iron key. “You’d be a fool to stay here. Choyu, open the cells and free any remaining prisoners. Should you find anything you need, feel free to help yourself.”

“Free the prisoners?! Are you mad?!” The thin man yelled as he stomped up to Hadvar.

“I will not allow those in our custody to be killed by the dragon or left to starve to death!” He yelled back. 

The large man stepped between them and pushed them apart. “This is not the time! If what Hadvar says is true then we need to grab what we can and get the hell out of here.”

The thin man huffed and crossed his arms, “Fine then, take all my things, but I’ll be speaking to your superiors about this.”

“Fine, do what you must.” Hadvar grunted and returned to gathering supplies. The larger man soon joined him as the thin man stormed out back the way they came from.

Meanwhile, Choyu went up to the large cages in the room. The one on the left held nothing but a skeleton. She narrowed her eyes in anger, they left a dead body here for so long the flesh had rotted away! She unlocked the gate anyway, she would make sure to return some time to see to it that a burial is done. 

The second gate held a captive mage that was unusually still. A quick check for a pulse confirmed the mage had died, the flesh still warm. She sighed, this was barbaric. She whispered an apology and moved the body, pulling off the robes, but left the hood as all it would do was block her vision to the sides. She folded up the robe and moved to the third cell. It was empty but she unlocked it anyway.

She followed around the corner to the other cells, once she was out of sight she pulled the potato sacks off her body and tossed them aside. She was a bit disturbed when she made the realization that she was likely naked and unconscious for some time before someone did so much as cover her. She didn’t feel or appear different from normal, so she cast that thought aside for later. She quickly pulled the robes on and tied off the sash. It wasn’t an exact fit but showed off a bit of fur on her chest and her tail was able to find its way through the folds rather naturally. She nodded, this would do.

She made quick work of the remaining cells, finding an additional skeleton and an abandoned coin sack of 12 coins. The large hole in the wall at the end of the hall was a bit weird though, she returned to the others as they finished packing up, “The other cells were empty but there’s a large hole in the wall.” She reported.

Hadvar nodded, “Sounds like Ralof’s doing. With luck, he and the other Stormcloaks did all the heavy lifting. Choyu this is Harkon, he was the assistant down here but will be coming with us.”

“I’ll help see to it that we all get out of here in one piece.” He said as he sheathed a large broadsword across his back. Choyu frowned, she wasn't too keen on having a torturer join her in escape, but then the other option was being eaten by a dragon or a prisoner of the Stormcloaks. She kept her silence and simply nodded.

“Right then, this way.” Hadvar led them to the end of the hall, the hole in the wall led through a short rocky tunnel and through another wall. To the right was a collapsed ceiling and the path continued to the left. “Looks like they managed to carve out a way around another collapse.”

They continued left, the hall opening once more into another part of the torture chambers. Aside from the blood splatters here and there, the room was completely barren. “Stormcloaks, they’ve been sacking everything they can get their hands on.” Harkon muttered. At the end of the room was another hole that had been blasted into the wall.

“This is it, this is the cave that will get us out of here. There’s some old ruins ahead though so be on guard.” Hadvar advised as they stepped through. The light from the torches behind them faded quickly, Choyu was able to see in the dark far better than the two men and took the lead.

“Here, I will guide you.” She said, offering her hand for them both to grasp. She kept a steady pace as she followed the outline of the wall around a corner. Soon they could see light once more, and she released them. Hadvar motioned for them to be silent. Choyu nodded and crouched low, then immediately tripped on her baggy robes. She caught herself lightly on her hands and managed to not make too much sound. She mentally cursed her clothing once more as she stood back up.

Hadvar and Harkon managed to not see her blunder as they had moved forward. War cries and the sound of steel on steel rang out as they charged around the corner, Stormcloaks were still in the area.

Choyu moved up to the wall and poked her head out cautiously to get a good look at the room. Her allies were on the defensive as five Stormcloaks were interchangeably charging forward and backing out before they could be countered, while on the other side of the large room two more were shooting arrows into the melee. They didn’t seem to care about hitting their own men when doing so.

The room itself appeared to be an old basement that would befit a castle, there was a stream of water trickling through the middle of the lower area, and everyone was on the upper stone area. There were several platforms all linked with an arch stone walkway that led over to where the arches stood.

Choyu focused back on the melee in front of her. She let out a slow breath as she waited. Her opening came as a man with a large warhammer struck Hadvar’s shield, she rushed out of hiding and struck him in the side. She felt the ribs crack as the breath left him. He fell off to the side clutching his chest as he tried to breathe.

Another took a swing at her head with a large maul. Choyu stepped into the arc of the swing, taking the small hit on the shoulder as she moved her fists in a series of blurred, ringing blows that sundered the armor and dropped the Stormcloak to the ground.

Hadvar pulled off a killing blow of his own thanks to her interference and evened the odds. She left the remaining two to them and sprinted across the short bridges and platforms to reach the other two shooting arrows. Their surprise at her seemingly unnatural speed gave her an opening, she swept the legs out from under the first one then rolled to her own feet in front of the remaining fighter.

He let out a panicked yelp and loosed an arrow. Choyu hissed in pain as the arrow embedded into her shoulder. She used her uninjured arm to knock him out before delivering a fierce roundhouse to the other as he got to his feet.

She stood there panting as her shoulder bled, making sure they weren’t getting back up as Hadvar and Harkon ran up to her. “By the beard of my father lass, that’s impressive fighting you’ve got there.” Harkon commented.

Choyu nodded, “Thank you, though I’m beginning to see that unarmed fighting styles are not that common. They are hard to counter if you are unfamiliar with them.”

Harkon nodded before collapsing against the wall. “Ugh, I think I’ve lost more blood than I thought.” He waved them off as they tried to help, “Just let me rest up a bit, I’ve got a potion. I’ll point any other stragglers the way through, I’m still useful.”

Hadvar nodded, “Let’s meet again for drinks after this my friend.” He nodded back, and they continued on to another passage before he stopped. “Let’s get that arrow pulled out, I think I have some spare leather to-” He was cut off as Choyu unceremoniously pulled it out herself and chugged the potion, the wound sealing shut.

“I’ve been shot with more and larger arrows, just not used to the pain yet.” She explained as she pulled off the hand wraps and confirmed they had healed as well. “The potions here are rather good, they would certainly fetch a good price.”

Hadvar gave her a confused and concerned look which she shook off, “A tale for another time, let’s keep moving.”

He nodded, “Right.” He pulled a lever and a drawbridge fell into place, allowing them to continue.

“Guess they couldn’t fit a portcullis.” Choyu commented as they moved on. Hadvar pulled out and lit a torch he had looted from one of the bodies just as the light from the previous area grew less and less. Before them lay a small stream, they followed it into a smaller cave that led to a dead end.

“Should have expected that.” he sighed.

“There’s another way to the right.” She pointed into the darkness and raised an eyebrow at the sight of another skeleton and a small pile of gold coins. “Why... why are there so many skeletons just all over the place?”

He shrugged and handed her the 7 gold, “People try to be adventurers all the time, to go out, explore, find the unknown. A lot simply don’t make it back. Most holds simply don’t have the manpower to send a search party each week, and those that can usually have more important or better things to do. Everyone knows there’s a good chance you won’t make it back, it’s just a fact of life.” He said sadly, “We can speak more about it once we’re safe, come on.”

She nodded, and they followed the tunnel deeper into the darkness. The ground began to get sticky and some strange substance appeared to be coating every surface. Hadvar cursed under his breath, “I hate spiders... crawling around everywhere. Be careful, they bite and can shoot their venom, it won’t do much to us but it’s deadly to smaller creatures.” he warned.

Choyu began to make out movement ahead, she thought about asking him to put out the torch, but they were likely able to see with their other senses better than their eyes. She cautiously stalked forward, the movements of the spiders being more defined as she neared. They were pretty large, coming up to her waist for the bigger ones and her knee for the smaller ones. Suddenly a large one rotated around on its skittering legs and rushed at her. She yelped out in surprise at how nimble the large creatures were and lashed out with a kick. It hissed in pain as she stumbled back. 

Hadvar charged forward then, slashing one with his sword and keeping two more at bay with the torch. His sword was having a moderate difficulty with the hard chitin but the blows were getting though. A quick thrust dispatched his first target. 

Choyu took a steadying breath and stepped forward, crushing her target’s head with a fist. Hadvar was going to town on his own spiders when she stubbed her foot on something, she glanced down and in the shadows of the torch she was able to make out a cocoon holding a man or woman’s body. The glint of chainmail with tones of blue indicating a Stormcloak had fallen to the spiders. Looking past it there were seven more bodies, all tightly wrapped in webbing.

Her ears flattened back, there was no way these spiders would be able to take down that many people and store them. She moved back towards Hadvar as he finished off the last of them. “Hadvar,” she whisper-yelled, “We need to run, I think these were the babies!”

He frowned, “Well they aren’t the largest I’ve seen but I don’t...” he trailed off as he stared over her shoulder in horror. Choyu spun around and witnessed a colossal spider descend on a thread as wide as her fist. Each leg was larger than her arm, they easily held the beast as it hissed angrily at them, its pincers dripping with venom as it scuttled towards them.

“Run!” they both yelled and turned towards the far narrower exit. The spider was hot on their heels, Choyu dove into the narrow opening of the next tunnel as it swiped at them with a claw-tipped leg, the spindly hairs brushing her robes.

She landed in a roll and popped back onto her feet next to Hadvar. She looked back to see it stuck in the narrow opening hissing angrily and turned to continue fleeing when it made a spitting sound, a moment later they were both splashed with a much stronger poison than the smaller ones were able to produce.

Choyu lurched forward, burning the last of her Ki to counter the poison, but it was only doing so much before her vision started to narrow and her limbs grow heavy. She pushed onward, Hadvar was weakening as well, but the armor blocked most of it. Ahead of them was another stream and together they fell into it to wash off whatever had not soaked into their bodies yet.

Choyu was miserable, she could barely move, She was cold, wet, and getting sick of this land. Luckily her breathing seemed unaffected by the paralyzing effects of the venom. So she lay there in a shallow stream with Hadvar, who was just as paralyzed, waiting for the effects to wear off.

As she lay there, frozen in place, she decided that like Hadvar she too also hated spiders. In all her travels and all the monsters she went up against, she had never encountered a spider that large and that could spit paralyzing venom that far.

As she lay there thinking a great pain started to spread through her body, starting at her back and spreading down her arms and legs, a pain she hadn’t felt in years nearly blinded her as most of her muscles began to cramp. Judging by his grunting sounds, she wasn’t the only one suffering.

She focused her mind elsewhere, trying to isolate the pain so that she wouldn’t go into shock, she only hoped Hadvar was as experienced enough to know what to do as well. She turned her mind back to her younger days, training at the Temple of the Bell. There were many other Tabaxi like herself, as well as some other races of various backgrounds.

She was training with her rival, they had a friendly competition going to see whom could outmatch who in various aspects. Their master would reprimand them on occasion, but they were both very motivated to be better and improve.

Her mind turned dark, the scene changed. It was evening, past when the training for the day was over and everyone was to be in their cot. She had snuck out the back and made her way to the training area. Within a few minutes she had arranged things in such a way that she would be able to practice without breaking the silence of the night.

Her training had gone well, the extra time letting her work out to the point her body was getting stressed, and then she wanted to do one more thing before turning in. She couldn’t remember what exactly, just that she had accidentally knocked something out of place. She had bent down to put it right, but a heavy sound made her look up just in time to see a very heavy log, more of an entire tree trunk, roll off the pile she had accidentally disturbed. That was the last thing she saw for a long time.

Choyu suddenly awoke, the nightmarish memory jolting her back to reality. She must not have been out for too long as her limbs still mostly refused to move, but there was some movement. She flailed about weakly in a bout of panic and pain, but the movement was able to work out the cramps and the pain slowly receded. After her panic attack had died down she took a few breaths and refocused herself, finding her center. Her heart panged at the memory of her friend who helped her through her anger years ago, he had taught her this particular breathing exercise.

Once she had calmed down, she worked on loosening up her limbs. It took a mountain of effort, but she was rewarded with minimal movement. She was forced to crawl and drag herself to Hadvar, a quick check showed he was still breathing but his pulse was weak. 

She gripped his armor as best she could and dragged him bit by bit out of the flowing water. As her movement and strength returned her body began to shiver and chatter her teeth. She took a moment to recover from the strain and searched the darkness, the torch was still lit, if only just. Choyu crawled over to it and blew on it gently, reviving the flame bit by bit until she was sure it wouldn’t go out.

There wasn’t much nearby that could be used to make a fire and a single torch wasn’t going to do much. She forced herself tor try to stand, but only succeeding in falling over before she started. She grunted in irritation and crawled on sore knees and bleeding hands, gathering an assortment of leaves, twigs, and plants, gathering a respectable pile near Hadvar.

On her third trip she followed the river, gathering the abundance of plants until she made a discovery. A broken down cart was in shambles near the stream. She greedily grabbed a few of the broken off planks, the dried out and slightly moldy wood would be great for a fire. She crawled back and set the wood planks in a cross pattern and piled the leaves and twigs on and under them.

Using the torch, she was able to get a few smolders going but the plants were a bit too fresh. She kept at it until her persistence and patience paid off, the smoldering turned to embers, then the embers produced their own flames, then everything else followed suit until she had a small steady fire. 

She set the torch aside and stretched out her limbs, they were still very sore and her hands and knees were bloodied, but she was able to move more steadily if not for the constant shivering. She managed to pull herself to her feet and stumble-walk to the cart, and dragged it back to the fire with an occasional clink of glass drawing her attention, but she was more focused on surviving for now.

She broke pieces off the cart and added them to the fire, the flames working wonderfully to warm her fur and dry her off. Hadvar began to stir and groan as the fire grew hotter. She stumbled over to him and looked him over. His face was flushed and his armor rattled a bit as he shivered.

“T-t-think the s-s-spiders eating m-m-me would be prefer-r-red…” He stuttered out as Choyu helped him sit up by the fire. It didn't need to be said, she felt the same way.

She continued to break down the cart for the fire, finding old spoiled cabbage and a few sealed glass bottles of some kind. She set those near Hadvar when he motioned for one. He popped it open and took a long draw.

“Ah… much better, this Alto Wine isn't bad. Here, you haven't had anything to drink in a while, it’ll warm you up.” He passed the bottle to her and she gave it a sniff before tilting her head back and taking a long pull.

Hadvar whistled, “You can sure take a drink. You sure you’re a monk?”

She popped out the bottle and passed it back, “Our drinks are stronger. Being able to brew fire water was something rather revered among the elders. I've never been any good at it but I can enjoy a cold one with the best on occasion.” She smirked, the drink going right to her head and reducing the feeling of the cold. “Once you can move let’s get going, I’m getting anxious and a tad claustrophobic here.”

He nodded and removed the chest plate of his armor, setting it near the fire to dry faster as he warmed his hands and chest. They sat across from each other as the last of the cart burned away to cinders and ash. It was another twenty minutes before Choyu felt as dry as she could get, Hadvar was ready to go and had already donned his armor again.

“Fur must be annoying to dry, bathing must be a pain.” He commented as they put the fire out.

“Why do you think we prefer the warmth of the sun?” She asked rhetorically, his bark of laughter echoed around a moment before he silenced himself.

They followed the stream once more around a bend and quietly shuffled past a sleeping bear and were soon greeted with the sweet scent of the outdoors. They smiled in relief and rushed forward into the light.


	2. Riverwood

They stepped out into the light, the darkness of the cave now behind them as they both took a moment to relax in the warmth of the sun. The chill of the nearly freezing water still lingered in their bones. Choyu stretched out her tired muscles and prepared for the hopefully short trek to the village of Riverwood. 

“Gods, glad to finally be out in the open again. Never been fond of caves after my first run in with cave spiders. Others have bears and trolls, bandits especially.” Hadvar said idly. 

Choyu's ears perked, there was a faint roar and as she looked up into the sky. Far in the distance the dragon could be seen circling around a large pillar of smoke. They both instinctively ducked behind some bushes, silently hiding until it flew off and disappeared beyond the horizon. 

“Friendly dragons my ass.” Choyu muttered as she stood back up. 

“What's that about friendly dragons?” Hadvar asked as he started to head down the road. 

Choyu followed next to him, “I was traveling with a group of companions, and one of them was convinced that a good majority of dragons were friendly, and would push that argument to undo the seal on our realm.” She held up a hand to cut him off, “I'm not from this world, and dragon kind was quite common in my world, but the seal was causing everyone of dragon-blood to die off, worldwide extinction of millions of innocents. When put into that perspective, the solution was obvious: undo the seal and revive the dragons and all of dragon kind would survive. 

“But then there is the obvious, evil dragons would also be brought back. She would argue that the good dragons would be able to assist the mortal races in defeating and holding back the bad. She agreed that there would be casualties, but was willing to sacrifice a hundred thousand to save millions.” Choyu sighed, “It was a dark and terrible choice, but we set out to learn what would happen, rally defenses, and prepare to unleash dragons into the world.” 

She turned to face him, “We were in the middle of the ritual, I think something went wrong somewhere, I am not that magically inclined to know for sure, but I woke up in the cart on the way to Helgen. I'm sure the others are also in this land, so I'm going to find them and get us all back home.” 

He sighed, taking a moment to just take it all in. “Aye, that's a tough one. I suppose it could be compared to saying we need to bring the Dwemer back to make sure all other Elven races did not die, and then dealing with the ensuing conflicts of having a whole other faction suddenly appear out of thin air. I'm not sure what I would do, either choice has consequences many would not like to face.” 

She nodded, “Exactly. And now I’m here and there is a dragon burning down a village. I have a feeling this is all linked together somehow, but I have no proof.” 

“Well regardless, we carry on and do what we can.” They rounded a bend in the bath and came out onto a more proper road, “Now this is a familiar sight, we're half a day's walk from Riverwood. We'll be relaxing and having a drink by the fire with bellies full of wild game in no time!” 

Choyu couldn't help but smile and nod, the increasingly familiar sensation of hunger churned away in her gut as she was reminded that she had not eaten in at least a day, probably more. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious. 

“GO AWAY!” Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the shrill scream. The next moment she had dashed off the path and leaped over some bushes, dodged around trees, and came upon a small pack of wolves. They had surrounded a small Tabaxi child, a Khajiit she assumed based on subtle differences. The child was wielding a short dagger, lunging at the wolf in front of her while two others circled around to take her from behind. 

Choyu darted forward and delivered a solid kick to the soft underbelly of the nearest wolf, punting it into a tree where it fell still. Targeting the other wolf she raised her leg high, dropping her heel like a guillotine onto its skull, crushing it with ease. 

The girl slashed at the face of the wolf in front of her, yet unaware someone had come to her aid. Her aim was off and just missed the wolf, it snapped at her wrist as she over extended and clamped down on her forearm. She screamed in pain and fear, tears streaming down her already soaked cheeks as she begged for help. 

Help arrived as an arrow sunk into the wolf, killing it nearly instantly. Hadvar had followed not far behind and took aim while Choyu took out the other wolves, but this one had yet to release the girl's arm. 

Choyu seemingly appeared before her eyes as she grasped the wolf's jaws in her claws, prying them open. The fangs retracted from the child's arm and she was able to pull it away. A moment later she clung to Choyu in a fierce hug, her body shaking as her sobs were muffled in Choyu's robes. 

She crouched down and hugged her back, taking a moment to check her for other injuries. While she was wearing a red dress, she was burned and singed in some areas while others had several cuts and bruises beginning to form, her recent wolf bite was bleeding steadily and needed attention. She tore off the sleeve of her robes and wrapped it around her arm several times securely. 

The more severe wound now taken care of for the moment, Choyu scooped up the sobbing child and looked to Hadvar. He nodded grimly and they set out back to Riverwood. Choyu did her best to console the child as she carried her, but in the end just held her tightly as she let it all out. 

Slowly the sobs died down and she cried herself to sleep, the exhaustion taking her but still she clutched at her robes. Choyu and Hadvar walked in silence as the sky turned to dusk. Choyu was the first to break it, “I think she was in Helgen.” 

“Aye.” He was thinking the same, among other things. They kept up the pace, regardless of their fatigue. 

Their effort was rewarded when they saw several torches flickering to life in the waning light of the setting sun. They picked up the pace and soon Choyu could see the section of wall that guarded the village and the open archway leading into the village proper. There didn't seem to be anyone around to greet them, though there were a few villagers meandering about. 

The two cottages on the right were two stories high, the nearest having a tanning rack next to an old woman working at her knitting. There was a path that led to the left, leading over the river to a large lumber mill. Continuing forward on the left was a single large building with an extended covered patio housing a variety of metallurgy equipment. 

Hadvar let out a tired sigh, “We made it, come on let's get inside.” Choyu followed behind as he climbed up the steps and knocked on the door. 

A moment later the door opened to reveal a large, older man, skin rough and pocked from years of working a forge and arms bulging with muscles. His dirty blonde hair and beard were cut short and had some singe to it, a blacksmith if Choyu ever saw one. 

“Hadvar?!” he exclaimed, “By the gods, what happened to you?” 

“Uncle, it's good to see you again. A lot has happened, may we come in?” Hadvar asked, fatigue coloring his voice. 

The blacksmith glanced over at Choyu and the child she was holding and nodded, “Of course, you know my door is always open for you and yours.” He turned to look back inside the house, “Sigrid! We have guests!” He opened the door wider to let them in. 

“Uncle, we're not seeing each other that way, we're just friends. I'll explain in a bit once we get some warm food in our bellies and lay the little one down to rest.” Hadvar explained. 

The blacksmith laughed from further inside as Choyu stepped through the door. The blacksmith was already seated at a table to the left while a tall woman, Sigrid she presumed, was tending the fire in the hearth, heating some water and adding meats and vegetables. To the right were several beds with straw mattresses, and another child, human this time, watching her with interest. 

“Miss?” Sigrid called, “You can go ahead and lay her on the bed in the corner.” Choyu nodded and gently laid her on the bed. Almost as soon as she let go of the child, she began to squirm and whimper in her sleep. 

“Here, she can borrow this, I think she needs it more than I do right now.” Choyu looked to the other child, she had moved next to her and was holding out a medium-sized stuffed bear. 

“Thank you, child.” Choyu patted her head and took the bear, passing it to the small Khajiit. Her claws latched onto it and pulled it close, settling down into sleep once more. Choyu sighed and turned to see the others staring at her. 

She stood and sat at the table across from the Blacksmith, “We found her in the woods not too far from here, being attacked by wolves. I am Choyu Kruell, Monk of the Temple of the Bell.” 

They nodded, “I'm glad you made it in time, the names Alvor, my wife Sigrid, and our daughter Dorthe.” 

Dorthe spoke up, she had sat on the bed beside the girl, “Hello, is it alright if I fix up her bandages?” Choyu nodded, “Okay then, I'll try not to wake her.” 

Alvor smiled with pride, “She's such a caring girl, although she’s a bit too friendly with strangers in my opinion.” He turned back to them as Sigrid placed a few bowls on the table, a sweet-smelling beef stew. “So, what the blazes happened to you, my boy?” 

Choyu started on her stew while Hadvar filled them in, the stew had a thick meaty texture that was complemented by the soft and sweet vegetables that were mixed in. There were some other seasonings that she wasn't quite able to identify but it was overall very delicious. It warmed her from the inside and calmed her hunger quite well. 

“You punched a dragon!?” Alvor exclaimed, earning a few shushes as he nearly woke up the Khajiit. “You punched a dragon, lass?” he asked in a more conversational tone. 

Choyu nodded, “Its scales were stronger and harder than anything else I've faced, I'd have the cuts were it not for a healing potion I had drank a bit later.” 

“Blimey...” Alvor muttered, his brows furrowed as he contemplated, if that dragon was so resilient, was there a way to forge a weapon that could best dragon scales? 

“I've borne witness to her fighting, her fists are like war hammers, breaking bone and rending steel like it was nothing!” Hadvar exclaimed while trying to control his volume. “She saved my life from the dragon, and saved me again when I was paralyzed from spider venom. Then I turn around and she saved that child's life, I will sing her praises all my life and belt them out in the Great Hall of Sovngarde!” 

Choyu raised an eyebrow as skeptically as she could manage, “I would hardly think my actions today are worthy of such praise. If you wish to sing about a feat I accomplished I will tell you of my fight against the Mivlorn.” 

“A Mivlorn? I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Hadvar muttered before shaking his head, “Perhaps another time. Uncle, that dragon is still around. Last we saw it flew over the mountains.” 

Alvor nodded, “Whiterun Hold will need to be told about this.” He thought for a moment, glancing to Choyu then to the child, “I think I will ask Sven to go, he's swift on his feet and is reputable. I would ask that you join him Choyu, but you have a child to tend to.” 

She nodded, “We believe she was living in Helgen at the time, I was going to return once things calmed down to give the dead their final rites. Perhaps her family is still in cover or they were separated in the woods, until she wakes we won't know.” 

“I will prepare the villagers of the danger so that they are ready to fight or flee, I won’t see my home burned to the ground without a fight.” Hadvar said as he finished his food, setting the spoon down with a note of finality. 

“Then I will find Sven and get him prepared, should only take him a day. He knows these hills and mountains like his own home.” Alvor said as he stood and headed for the door. “If you need anything, feel free to ask Sigrid, across the way is the general trader and the inn to the left of that if you need a drink.” 

Choyu nodded as he left, followed by Hadvar as he set out to rally the village. She let out a breath and glanced over to Dorthe, she had already patched up the smaller burns and scratches and had just pulled back the makeshift wraps binding the wolf bite. She looked back at Choyu with a wince, “This is pretty bad looking, I don't think we have any potions or salves for this.” 

Sigrid strode over and leaned down to get a good look at herself and nodded, she turned to Choyu, “The skin is torn a bit but the teeth pierced deep into the muscle, this will require a potion. I have some coin saved up but it's not much. I can take you to the general store and help you buy a potion.” 

Choyu frowned, “Unfortunately aside from a small handful of gold the only thing I have is this robe, and it's missing a sleeve now.” 

Sigrid pondered for a moment, “I see, well I can help you with your clothing, mage robes usually go for a good price no matter the condition because of the enchantments woven into them, even if a sleeve is torn off. Come downstairs, I might have something that will fit you. Dorthe, yell if our little friend wakes up, okay?” She nodded as Sigrid led Choyu to the lower level. 

She looked around once she reached the bottom of the stairs, the walls were filled with numerous shelves full of supplies, tables littered with half finished shirts, dresses, and pants with assorted tools necessary for their creation. 

Sigrid went up to one of the shelves and pulled out some completed work, a plain off-white shirt of thick wool and a matching pair of tan pants with a belt of thin rope. “These should do you just fine, sturdy for those rough and tumble types and warm enough to stave off the cold. I have a long sleeve variant as well if you like.” 

Choyu reached out to feel the fabric, it wasn't the high quality material her Gi was made from, “It will do, thank you. And I must ask, do you have anything to wear under this? As fun as it is I would like to keep things under control, as it were.” 

Sigrid let out a bark of laughter, “Yes, of course! Come this way, let me get a measure of your size.” 

Choyu shook her head, “Just some under pants and a long wrapping cloth will do, thank you though.” 

“Ah, yes, I should have figured. One moment.” She turned away and opened a few drawers, grabbing some things before returning. “Here, some panties and a long strip of cloth, soft yet supportive. You can step behind the screen over there.” 

“Thanks.” Choyu gathered the clothing and vanished behind the foldable privacy panel. She pulled off the torn and bloody robes and pulled on the panties, they rubbed against the underside of the tail but the fabric was soft and wouldn't chafe. Next she took the long roll of fabric and wrapped it around her torso, not too tight to restrict her breathing yet enough to help balance her center of gravity. There was plenty of extra so she borrowed scissors to make a neat cut. 

The pants slid on easy enough, there was a hole already sewn into the back end for a tail, hers slid through easily. She made a quick tie of the rope to keep them in place. The hems stopped about midway down her calves. The shirt slid on easily as well, though a bit oversized and fluttered about loosely. It wasn't too large but was loose to allow it to breath when it needed. 

She used the rest of the wrappings to wrap up her forearms, wrists, and hands for additional support. The last of it went around her calves and ankles to hold the pant legs in place and a bit more support as well. 

She stepped out and did a twirl for Sigrid. She smiled, “Well you won't be the bell of the ball but I think it'll suit you just fine.” She gathered up the robes and headed back upstairs with Choyu in tow. “If you give me some time I can make some sandals for you or something.” 

She shook her head, “Thank you but it won't be needed. My pads are strong and sturdy. Although I may speak to your husband, Hadvar said he is the blacksmith and I might have an idea for a suitable weapon.” 

They walked through the first floor back to the door, Choyu took a minute to look over the Khajiit as she slept fitfully. Satisfied she would be alright for the time being she joined Sigrid and stepped outside, night had fallen. Choyu took a moment to look up into the heavens. She stopped in the middle of the road to gawk at the sight, two moons! One moon was noticeably larger than the other, but it was a sight to behold. 

Sigrid stopped and looked back, then looked up as well, “Ah, it's a clear night and they shine brightly, should make any thieves think twice. Come on, they should still be up and about.” 

Choyu spent another moment burning the wondrous view into her mind before joining Sigrid. They let themselves inside the store to see a man and a woman yelling at each other, “I don't care! You are not going up that mountain!” the man was yelling. The sound of the door closing in the brief pause caught their attention. 

The woman huffed and stomped up the stairs to the left, “Camilla! Blast it all.” He turned to Sigrid and Choyu, “Sorry about that, I’m just closing up.” 

Sigrid shook her head and walked to the counter, “What was that all about? You two are usually of the same mind.” 

The man sighed, “Our prized Golden Claw was stolen last night, we believe it was the bandits that recently made a home in Bleak Falls Barrow. So of course she wants to go gallivanting off to get it back.” 

“A golden claw? What’s that?” Choyu asked as she approached as well. 

“Ah, a new face! Well, it’s a dragon claw with three talons, solid gold, with patterns pressed into the palm. They are used to unlock the old Nordic puzzle doors used to lock vaults deep underground, so it’s a pretty good size.” The man said as he used his hands to approximate the size of the claw. 

“Well, with that description couldn’t you hire a bounty hunter or just put the word out to the other merchants? I mean it won't help with private buyers and whatever that claw unlocks will likely be looted as well. I’d say just cut your losses for now, it’ll turn up eventually. Sounds way too valuable not to be sold and shown off somewhere.” She reasoned. 

The man sighed, “well I suppose so, but it’s been in our family since our great grandfather found it. I think I’ll do that then, I’m Lucan by the way. Welcome to Riverwood Trader, was there anything you two needed before you were caught up in all this?” 

Sigrid nodded, “Yes, a child was injured and is in need of a potion, she was attacked by wolves. We have these blue mage robes to trade in.” She set them on the table and Lucan picked them up for inspection. 

“Hm, a bit bloody and missing an arm… The blood would clean off easy enough but the sleeve would need to be re-attached, or you would need to modify the robes to be more feminine. Although last I checked, nobody here can repair enchanted items. I can send it up to Farengar up in Whiterun, he’s the one with the magical knowledge to repair and modify these things you see.” He explained to Choyu. 

“We have the sleeve,” she explained, “we can get it to you after we heal the girl’s arm, it’s being used as a wrap at the moment.” 

He nodded in understanding, “Well, the damage would need to be repaired before it can be sold, these usually go for about 75 gold in new condition, but for repairs from a third party to repair and sell it, plus the shipment costs…” he trailed off and tallied the prices, “I’d have to say 20 gold would be the best I can offer.” 

“And how much for the potion?” Choyu asked. 

“Well I’ve got a few variants, the weakest version is 35 gold, but it’s only usefull for minor cuts and bruises. For something like a wolf bite or anything deep you would want the next step up, and that’s going to run you 55 gold.” He said, setting a small red vial on the counter, then a larger vial with a rounded bottom next to it. The larger one indeed seemed more potent. 

Choyu pulled out her small pouch of coins and counted them out, “I have 19, plus the robes for 39.” She placed them on the counter. 

Sigrid stepped forward and counted out some coins as well, “And I’ll cover the remaining 16. Consider it as additional thanks for keeping my nephew safe.” 

Choyu nodded her thanks as Lucan swept the coins behind the counter and set the robes aside, “Just remember to bring back the sleeve, alright?” Choyu nodded as she picked up the medium healing potion and they headed back across the wide street.

They opened the door back into Sigrid’s home just as Dorthe was opening it, “Oh you’re back! I think she’s waking up.” She stepped aside as they hurried in.

The child was still in bed, whining and fidgeting softly. Choyu sat next to her and placed a hand on her back, rubbing it gently, “Shh, it’s alright now, come on.”

The girl sniffed and grunted, her eyes opening a bit in confusion at the strangers around her and the strange place she was in. She tried to get up but winced when she moved her arm, “Here,” Choyu sat her up and pulled her to her side, “You are with friends, we found you out in the woods and saved you, I got you a healing potion, think you can drink it?”

The girl gave a wary glance to the others, lingering on Choyu for a moment before taking the potion. Based on her expression she found it distasteful but drank it all. “Bleah!” she hissed out. Choyu kept a hand on her shoulder, supporting her physically and emotionally.

“How’s your arm feeling?” Choyu asked her.

“Itchy…” she replied softly.

“Let’s take a look, okay?” The child nodded and held out her bandaged arm, the pain appears to have been reduced. Sigrid stood by with fresh bandages and a bucket of water and a sponge. “It wasn’t looking too good before, you’re not scared of blood, are you?”

The child huffed, “No! I’m as brave as can be! Way more than boys even!” she stated proudly.

Choyu grinned, “Alright, it’s okay to look away though okay?” she said as Sigrid slowly removed the sleeve of mage robes. While the outer layer looked well enough, all the others were soaked through with blood. Choyu bit her tongue and shot a glance to the little one’s face, she had gone pale at the amount of blood but continued to stare.

The rest of the sleeve fell away, her arm fur was matted and almost black with congealed blood, luckily there didn't seem to be any more being added to it. “Looks like we stopped it before it continued to get worse. Dorthe take the sleeve to the river and wash it, don’t get any on your dress.”

Dorthe nodded and carefully held it by the cleaner parts and darted out the door, a trail of blood droplets in her wake. “It’s okay, just hold still and we’ll get you cleaned up, okay?” Choyu said softly. The child nodded, unable to look away as Sigrid started sponging at her fur, cleaning away the blood before it dried too much in the open air.

Choyu spoke up to give her something else to focus on, “Well, you certainly proved that you are quite brave, I know plenty of boys who would faint at the sight of just a little blood.”

The girl nodded, “yeah…”

“And brave enough to hold back a few wolves too.” She nodded again, her other hand going up to her neck.

“Oh no!” she exclaimed, “My dad’s dagger! Did you see it miss?”

Choyu shook her head, “I’m sorry, little one, I think it fell to the forest floor in the chaos. If you like we can go look for it tomorrow.” She nodded, “What is you name, by the way?” Unless you wish to b called Brave little One?” Choyu teased and patted her shoulder.

The girl smiled a bit, “Thanks, but my name is Maisha… Just Maisha.”

“Well then, Just Maisha,” Choyu grinned as she made a grumpy face, “my name is Choyu Kruell, and this is a friend of mine, Sigrid. The little girl was Dorthe, her daughter. It’s nice to meet you.”

Maisha nodded, “Um, thanks, it's nice to meet you too.” She paused, hesitant, “Are you okay? You look weird.”

“Weird? How do you mean?” Choyu asked.

“Well, your face is weird to look at… like you have a longer snout or something, and your ears are really big. Your face is pretty though.”

“Well thanks the gods for that!” Choyu shared a laugh with Sigrid, “Well, to answer your question, I’m not a Khajiit, I am a Tabaxi from a very far away land.”

“Oh! That’s pretty cool, I haven’t met many other Khajiit, but all the ones from the caravans are from Elsweyr.” She said as she stared intently, taking in the little differences.

“It sounds like there are many Khajiit from there, are you from there too?” Choyu asked. Sigrid finished cleaning and wrapping the arm to let it heal the rest of the way naturally. She stood and began reheating leftovers from dinner.

Maisha shook her head, “No, my parents moved here before I was born, I’ve only ever seen Skyrim. Mom and Dad would always talk about the feeling of warm sand under their paws and I’ve been wanting to go, but they said it wasn't a good place. They never told me any more than that.” She finished sadly.

“I am sure they have their reasons, parents often do strange things in an effort to protect their children.” Choyu reassured.

“Is that why you don’t have the same accent as other Khajiit?” Sigrid asked, “Every Khajiit I’ve met always referred to themselves by name or as Khajiit.”

“Oh, right…” Maisha said sadly, “My parents talked like that sometimes, but they always tried to speak like the Nords and had me out in town all the time, when I was allowed to anyway.”

“I see, it must have been hard making friends like that.” Sigrid said as she mixed up more stew, “I take it your family moved from village to village?” 

“Yeah, we were always moving for work and stuff.”

Choyu gave her a hug, “They sound like good people.”

“They do, unfortunately Skyrim isn't too kind to Khajiit, so raising a child must have been quite the challenge.” Sigrid said.

“What do you mean?” Choyu asked.

“Sorry, I forget you aren't from around here. Most of Skyrim assumes that all Khajiit are thieves, sneaking around to steal everything and sell it someplace else. Most of the larger holds and cities have outlawed their presence. It’s common to see small camps of Khajiit just outside the city gate so they can trade their wares, although the suspicion that they were stolen still remains.”

Choyu stared at her blankly for a moment, “That’s absurd.”

Sigrid sighed, “That’s what it is unfortunately. I’m sure Hadvar can use his influence to allow you to access the imperial capital at the least. They might be able to get you some paperwork to allow you access to anywhere you may need.”

Choyu nodded, “I will keep that in mind, I am sure that would come in handy.” She turned to Maisha, “Think you’re ready to eat?”

Maisha nodded and Choyu helped her to her feet. Sigrid set down a bowl of the leftover stew in front of her. Eat up, there's still a bit left if you want more.”

“Thank you, Miss.” Maisha hungrily devoured the stew as Dorthe stepped back in.

“That took a while, I was about to go check for you.” Sigrid noted as she took a seat.

Dorthe handed her the mostly clean sleeve, “Sorry mama, it was soaked in pretty bad.”

Sigrid nodded, “I see, I’ll take it to Lucan first thing tomorrow, You should start getting ready for bed. Choyu, I’m terribly sorry but we don’t have enough beds for you both, once my husband returns I am sure he can get you a room at the inn. I’m sure that’s where Hadvar will be staying as well.”

Choyu nodded and turned to Maisha, “We’ll head to the inn once you finish eating, then tomorrow we’ll head back out to find your dagger and then to Helgen to look for your parents.” 

She nodded, “Okay. I think they would be in that area too. All I remember is that we were all running for the forest, a lot of us got split up.”

“Then it’s a plan.” Choyu sat back, idly running the events of the last few days through her head as Maisha finished eating.

Thundering footsteps approached the door, which was opened to reveal Alvor. “Ah, she’s awake and looking far better I see!” he said with a smile as he spotted Maisha. “I'm Alvor little miss, I see you already met everyone else. How's my wife’s cooking?”

Maisha smiled a bit in return, “I’m Maisha, her cooking is pretty good.”

Alvor nodded in approval as he turned to Sigrid, “Sven has already left for Whiterun and Hadvar got himself a room at the inn.”

Sigrid nodded, “Good to know, I was just telling Choyu that you would be able to get her a room for them both as well.”

“Aye, I can do that.” He turned to them, “You both set to head out?”

Maisha set her spoon down, “Yep. Thank you, Miss, that was very good.”

“Glad to hear it, stop by for some breakfast before you two head out alright?” Sigrid said as she started cleaning up.

“We will, thank you.” Choyu said, standing and heading to the door with the others.

They stepped back outside, night had fully consumed the town as the moons and stars shone brightly overhead. Alvor guided them to the left, shortly down the street to the largest building in the village. The name Sleeping Giant Inn was inscribed on the wooden sign hanging overhead. Choyu gave it a glance but while unable to read the writing she made note of the odd style of the sign. 

They climbed the steps onto the porch and past a slouching drunk. Alvor opened the door and led the way inside. Maisha was just behind and Choyu was the last to enter. There was a large fire right in the middle of the inn with a number of pots, pans, and rotisserie set up and ready to cook. Choyu’s ears folded back, it was like they didn’t care about fire hazards.

Alvor walked up to the bar maiden, “Delphine my dear, how goes business?”

“What is it Alvor? I know you aren't here to just chat after what I've been hearing.” The woman, Delphine, said with a look of irritation.

“Always to the point.” Alvor sighed, “These two just came from Helgen and could use a bed if you have a spare.”

She grunted, “I figured, and what, I should give them charity? It’s 10 gold a room and I’ve only got the one left.” She turned to regard Choyu and Maisha, her eyes going over the recent burns and bandages. She looked to Choyu and noted her form and weariness. “You look like you can handle yourself, how about we make a deal?”

Choyu raised an eyebrow, “What sort of deal?”

Delphine smiled, “There's a small group of bandits setting up a home in a mine not too far from here, if you give your word you will clear them out tomorrow I’ll allow you both to stay tonight free of charge. I was going to put the bounty out for them in the morning but it's yours, minus the room fee, when you make it back.”

Alvor spoke up, “You can’t just-”

“I can and I will. The only reason I’m giving her a chance is because you’re vouching for her and they obviously went through a hard day.”

Choyu stepped in before Alvor could argue further, “That is fine, we were going out tomorrow anyway and can take care of the bandits as we do. Do you require their heads as proof?”

Delphine shook her head, “Gods no. We’ll confirm ourselves later and clear the mine.” 

“Then we have a deal. Alvor, I wish you a good night and we will see you and yours in the morning.” Choyu gave him a small bow. Maisha looked unsure what to do but mimicked the action soon enough.

“Well if you’re sure then, have a good night.” Alvor nodded to them all and headed out the door.

Delphine moved to a room off to the side, “Here you are, don't do any drugs or anything sketchy, I’ll find out then have your head.”

“Thank you for the room, good night.” Choyu said cooley as she guided Maisha inside. 

Choyu closed the door and locked it softly, shaking her head with a sigh. “I am not used to that amount of distrust. How are you holding up?”

Maisha sighed as she crawled into the bed, “I’m used to it, it’s always like that. That family was nice though, I like them.”

“They are very good people, and helping their loved one likely placed me in their favor as well.” She approached the bed as well, Maisha was scooched against the wall to give her room.

Choyu lifted the covers and slid into the bed. “I hope you don’t mind the closeness, I’m a hugger!” Choyu teased with a smile.

Maisha giggled, “Goodnight Miss Choyu.”

“Goodnight Brave Little One.” Choyu chuckled as she lay down and let herself be taken by sleep.

It wasn't too long after when Choyu was woken up by something gripping her arm tightly. She turned her head to see Maisha gripping her arm desperately, whimpering softly in her sleep. Choyu rolled onto her side and pulled her against her chest protectively. Maisha soon settled down, and Choyu followed soon after.

Unseen by them both, a pair of eyes was watching through a hidden panel in the wall. They soon pulled back and slit the slot closed.


End file.
